England came into the T20 series having won the ODI series very impressively, and further boosted by the news that Tammy Beaumont’s magnificent series had seen her rise to the top of the Women’s ODI batting rankings.
A MAGNIFICENT TEAM BOWLING PERFORMANCE
England bowled first, and a magnificent bowling performance it was too. Brunt, Sciver, Ecclestone and Glenn each took two wickets, Mady Villiers 1. Glenn went for just 11 from her full four overs, Ecclestone 18 from the same, and Brunt who got the final scalp with the fourth ball of her final over had gone for just 13 as. Freya Davies bowled one over for three runs. Villiers had 1-16 from three overs. Only Sciver who conceded 28 was somewhat expensive. The fielding was of a standard to match the bowling. New Zealand were all out for 96, with only wicket keeper Katey Martin (36) having any real success with the bat.
Tomorrow is an early start for serious cricket fans living in the UK as live coverage of the final test of the India v England series commences at 3:45AM, with an early opening of a cricinfo tab to check for advance news highly recommended. The below image shows my preparation:
With the additional precaution of moving my computer into the bedroom when I go to bed tonight so that I can follow the first session from in bed before properly getting up during the lunch break the alarm setting above gives me time to open up cricinfo, open up the talksport2 coverage and log on to twitter to check in with other die-hard fans and be ready for the day’s action.
A suggested England XI for the fourth and final test of the current series, which starts on Thursday. Also a couple of important links and some photographs.
I suggested an England XI for the fourth and final test of the India v England series in my post about the end of the third match. Since then Chris Woakes has gone home, which eliminates one of my chosen XI and I have concluded that a couple of specialist pace bowlers are actually required. Therefore I am presenting a new XI here, with a couple of possible variations noted.
THE SERIES SCENARIO AND SELECTION POLICIES
With England’s hopes of winning the series and of qualifying for the World Test Championship both up in smoke and series levelling victory serving only to usher Australia into the WTC final I am thinking that a degree of experimentalism is called for. In my view, with Root able to bowl respectable off spin it is more valuable if the second specialist spinner can bowl leg spin, giving a new variation to the attack.
THE BATTING
Dan Lawrence struggled at number three and should not be asked to bat there again for some while. Jonathan Bairstow, 2021 vintage, does not belong in a test match squad, let alone first XI. Thus the question is whether one goes with a top three of Sibley, Burns and Crawley or whether one promotes Stokes in the hope that his experience stiffens the top part of the order. With this the last test of the series and a home summer followed by an Ashes series down under next up I opt in this case for the top three that is likeliest to feature there rather than promote Stokes. With Stokes not being promoted the nos four and five slots are spoken for – Root and Stokes. Pope deserves to stay on in the middle order, with apologies to Dan Lawrence who has had the rough end of the stick this tour, and Foakes will keep. I might consider trying Foakes at six and Pope at seven as Pope is more likely to able to score fast with the tail, but they definitely occupy those two slots in some order. Thus our 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 will be either Sibley, Burns, Crawley, *Root, Stokes, Pope +Foakes or Sibley, Burns, Crawley, *Root, Stokes, +Foakes, Pope.
THE BOWLING
With an eye to the future and also wishing to see something that has not yet been tried I conclude that both veterans should be rested for this one, and also that Archer who has been underwhelming in his outings so far should miss out, naming Wood (who bowled well in SL) and Stone (who bowled well in the second test of this series), opting for two out and out speedsters. Leach holds his place, and rather than Bess I recommend a promotion from the reserves for Parkinson. My 8,9,10,11 is therefore Wood, Stone, Leach, Parkinson. The full XI is encapsulated in the infographic below:
LINKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
First up, courtesy of twitter (in this case Trisha Greenhalgh) here is an infographic about masks (link to original here):
Then, as a segue into my usual sign off, a petition calling for new law to protect nature, which you can sign and share from here (screenshot of petition text, from e-activist.com is below):
Using an ‘accepting extra walking’ post to introduce a very scenic area of West Kent, connect to some of my more radical public transport notions, share an autism related thread and a bumper haul of photographs.
Today feels to me like a day for a non-cricket post, so here comes another variation on my ‘accepting extra walking’ theme. This is one is entirely, though tenuously, based on my London days. However, just before I move on, I must mention an extraordinary cricket related endeavour being undertaken by the folks at Inside Edge Cricket by way of their twitter account, @InsideEdgeCrick: They have just started going through the whole list of 697 England male test cricketers. As I type this they have covered the eleven who played the first two test matches of all.
EYNSFORD – SHOREHAM – OTFORD
I have made passing mention of this area in my posts about the Piccadilly, Central and Bakerloo lines for various reasons: In the post about the Piccadilly I was suggesting, as I still believe should be considered, a proposal for reviving the Aldwych branch and using it as a starting point for an extension into southeast London and West Kent, in the Central line post I explained its relevance to an even more speculative notion of mine, a London Orbital Railway, while any sensible extension of the Bakerloo line would take it through southeast London – there are plans approved but awaiting funding for an extension as far as Lewisham and from there the a further extension south east would make good sense, with Sevenoaks and Maidstone both major and connected enough to represent good ultimate targets.
In the late 1990s, when still resident in London, one of the walks I did was one that started at Eynsford Station and finished at Otford Station with a lunch stop in the intervening village of Shoreham (which also has a station, on the same line as the other two). This route took in the Roman villa at Lullingstone, a significant part of the Darent Valley Way and a few other things that together added up to a very scenic and enjoyable walk. This walk was in a Time Out book of London Walks, although even Eynsford, the closest place on the route to London is just beyond the M25. A quick disclaimer at this point: at the moment, and indeed until June 21st even if (big if, this one, in my opinion) Johnson’s lockdown easing plans actually work any travel for purely leisure purposes is out, so this post can be considered for future planning, but not for action in the present. Here are some pictures showing detail of the walk as I did it:
For more on the Darent Valley Path, and for a walk that has a bit in common with the above, please click here (map of a walk of theirs which overlaps with the one I talk about below).
One could explore this very scenic little corner of west Kent by visiting each station separately and seeing only what is within a short walk of each, but the Eynsford – Otford walk, which I several times when living in Tooting, is a far superior way of experiencing the entire picture. From my old home I could do each journey with one change: Streatham – Blackfriars, Blackfriars – Eynsford, and then Otford – Blackfriars, Blackfriars – Streatham (my old home as I have stated in previous posts was on the borders of Streatham and Tooting, and Streatham station was a convenient starting point for a journey). From my current home, if the situation were to permit, it would require two changes each way, at King’s Cross and Blackfriars, while even if able to drive going by car would not be a remotely sensible option from either location. I finish this section of the post with a few more map pictures:
A satellite view of the area between Eynsford (north) and Otford (South)
Close focus on Eynsford and Lullingstone.
Wider map of the area, showing Maidstone near the south east corner and just in from the northwest corner, Tooting, where my old my home was.
The end of the line that passes through all three key villages.
Eynsford and Lullingstone both just sneak into my ancient A-Z.
The map pages key from said book.
Close focus on the Eynsford area.
LINK AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Just before moving on to my usual sign off, I have a thread from Ann Memmott in which she expertly picks apart an opening paragraph of a piece recently published in a well known journal. Please read the thread in full (screenshot below)…
Now, all of those who have made their way to this point, you get your reward, with a bumper crop of new photos:
aspiblog 